The first weekend of November saw muscles and not steam powering travel along the award-winning Kent & East Sussex Railway (K&ESR) as a group of its intrepid volunteers took on a pump trolley challenge. Their aim: to raise funds for the K&ESR’s anniversary appeal to restore its only wholly-owned locomotive, Pannier Tank 1638, so that it can rejoin the home fleet.

The means of transport was the K&ESR’s recently restored Hand Pump Trolley, now in full working order and repainted to its former glory. This particular Pump Trolley has been in the spotlight before; it achieved international fame in 1989, when it set a new world record for the fastest pump trolley run over a measured distance of 300 metres – a record which, it is believed, still stands – and appeared on the popular BBC TV programme Record Breakers.

This Pump Trolley Challenge, which was about endurance and not speed, started at Tenterden Town Station at 7am on Saturday 1st November and finished back there on Sunday afternoon as the light faded. By then, 200 kilometers had been travelled through wind and rain. Teams of four, including a qualified driver or guard, took turns to power the trolley in timed slots between 7am and 5pm each day.

The idea for the challenge came from 29-year-old K&ESR volunteer Sarah Tagart:

“I wanted to combine a volunteer effort to raise money for the 1638 Appeal with doing something to mark Rail 200 and I thought using the pump trolley would be a fun way to do that. This year is also the 125th anniversary of the opening of the original Rother Valley Railway between Robertsbridge and Tenterden. The return to the rails of our Pannier Tank locomotive 1638 is a key part of plans for passenger services once the extended line from Bodiam and Robertsbridge Junction reopens.”

The 1638 Appeal has a fund-raising target of £163,800. So far, around £56,000 has been donated or committed in regular giving, representing around 35% of the target. The loco is currently with restoration experts in Cornwall and it is hoped the money raised by the Challenge will make a significant contribution to funding further work.